_Ingredients._—6 oranges, ¼ lb. of muscatel raisins, 2 oz. of pounded
sugar, 4 tablespoonfuls of brandy. _Mode._—Peel 5 of the oranges;
divide them into slices without breaking the pulp, and arrange them on
a glass dish. Stone the raisins, mix them with the sugar and brandy,
and mingle them with the oranges. Squeeze the juice of the other orange
over the whole, and the dish is ready for table. A little pounded spice
may be put in when the flavour is liked; but this ingredient must be
added very sparingly. _Average cost_, 1_s._ _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6
persons. _Seasonable_ from November to May.
ORANGE WINE, a very Simple and Easy Method of Making a very Superior.
_Ingredients._—90 Seville oranges, 32 lbs. of lump sugar, water.
_Mode._—Break up the sugar into small pieces, and put it into a dry,
sweet, 9-gallon cask, placed in a cellar or other storehouse, where
it is intended to be kept. Have ready close to the cask two large
pans or wooden keelers, into one of which put the peel of the oranges
pared quite thin, and into the other the pulp after the juice has been
squeezed from it. Strain the juice through a piece of double muslin,
and put into the cask with the sugar. Then pour about 1½ gallon of cold
spring water on both the peels and the pulp; let it stand for 24 hours,
and then strain it into the cask; add more water to the peels and pulp
when this is done, and repeat the same process every day for a week: it
should take about a week to fill up the cask. Be careful to apportion
the quantity as nearly as possible to the seven days, and to stir the
contents of the cask each day. On the _third_ day after the cask is
full—that is, the _tenth_ day after the commencement of making—the cask
may be securely bunged down. This is a very simple and easy method, and
the wine made according to it will be pronounced to be most excellent.
There is no troublesome boiling, and all fermentation takes place in
the cask. When the above directions are attended to, the wine cannot
fail to be good. It should be bottled in 8 or 9 months, and will be
fit for use in a twelvemonth after the time of making. Ginger wine may
be made in precisely the same manner, only, with the 9-gallon cask
for ginger wine, 2 lbs. of the best whole ginger, _bruised_, must be
put with the sugar. It will be found convenient to tie the ginger
loosely in a muslin bag. _Time._—Altogether, 10 days to make it.
_Average cost_, 2_s._ 6_d._ per gallon. _Sufficient_ for 9 gallons.
_Seasonable._—Make this in March, and bottle it in the following
January.
ORANGES, Compôte of.
[Illustration: COMPÔTE OF ORANGES.]
_Ingredients._—1 pint of syrup, 6 oranges. _Mode._—Peel the oranges,
remove as much of the white pith as possible, and divide them into
small pieces without breaking the thin skin with which they are
surrounded. Make the syrup by recipe, adding the rind of the orange
cut into thin narrow strips. When the syrup has been well skimmed, and
is quite clear, put in the pieces of orange, and simmer them for 5
minutes. Take them out carefully with a spoon without breaking them,
and arrange them on a glass dish. Reduce the syrup by boiling it
quickly until thick; let it cool a little, pour it over the oranges,
and, when cold, they will be ready for table. _Time._—10 minutes to
boil the syrup; 5 minutes to simmer the oranges; 5 minutes to reduce
the syrup. _Average cost_, 9_d._ _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_ from November to May.
ORANGES, a Pretty Dish of.
_Ingredients._—6 large oranges, ½ lb. of loaf sugar, ¼ pint of water, ½
pint of cream, 2 tablespoonfuls of any kind of liquor, sugar to taste.
_Mode._—Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, and boil them until
the sugar becomes brittle, which may be ascertained by taking up a
small quantity in a spoon, and dipping it in cold water; if the sugar
is sufficiently boiled, it will easily snap. Peel the oranges, remove
as much of the white pith as possible, and divide them into nice-sized
slices, without breaking the thin white skin which surrounds the juicy
pulp. Place the pieces of orange on small skewers, dip them into the
hot sugar, and arrange them in layers round a plain mould, which should
be well oiled with the purest salad-oil. The sides of the mould only
should be lined with the oranges, and the centre left open for the
cream. Let the sugar become firm by cooling; turn the oranges carefully
out on a dish, and fill the centre with whipped cream, flavoured with
any kind of liqueur, and sweetened with pounded sugar. This is an
exceedingly ornamental and nice dish for the supper-table. _Time._—10
minutes to boil the sugar. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 8_d._—_Sufficient_ for
1 mould. _Seasonable_ from November to May.
ORANGES, Iced.
_Ingredients._—Oranges; to every lb. of pounded loaf sugar allow the
whites of 2 eggs. _Mode._—Whisk the whites of the eggs well, stir in
the sugar, and beat this mixture for ¼ hour. Skin the oranges, remove
as much of the white pith as possible without injuring the pulp of
the fruit; pass a thread through the centre of each orange, dip them
into the sugar, and tie them to a stick. Place this stick across the
oven, and let the oranges remain until dry, when they will have the
appearance of balls of ice. They make a pretty dessert or supper dish.
Care must be taken not to have the oven too fierce, or the oranges
would scorch and acquire a brown colour, which would entirely spoil
their appearance. _Time._—From ½ to 1 hour to dry in a moderate oven.
_Average cost_, 1½_d._ each. _Sufficient._—½ lb. of sugar to ice 12
oranges. _Seasonable_ from November to May.
ORANGES, Preserved.
_Ingredients._—Oranges; to every lb. of juice and pulp allow 2 lbs. of
loaf sugar; to every pint of water ½ lb. of loaf sugar. _Mode._—Wholly
grate or peel the oranges, taking off only the thin outside portion of
the rind. Make a small incision where the stalk is taken out, squeeze
out as much of the juice as can be obtained, and preserve it in a basin
with the pulp that accompanies it. Put the oranges into cold water;
let them stand for 3 days, changing the water twice; then boil them in
fresh water till they are very tender, and put them to drain. Make a
syrup with the above proportion of sugar and water, sufficient to cover
the oranges; let them stand in it for 2 or 3 days; then drain them
well. Weigh the juice and pulp, allow double their weight of sugar, and
boil them together until the scum ceases to rise, which must all be
carefully removed; put in the oranges, boil them for 10 minutes, place
them in jars, pour over them the syrup, and, when cold, cover down.
They will be fit for use in a week. _Time._—3 days for the oranges
to remain in water, 3 days in the syrup; ½ hour to boil the pulp, 10
minutes the oranges. _Seasonable._—This preserve should be made in
February or March, when oranges are plentiful.
OX, The.
The manner in which a side of beef is cut up in London is shown in the
engraving on this page. In the metropolis, on account of the large
number of its population possessing the means to indulge in the “best
of everything,” the demand for the most delicate joints of meat is
great, the price, at the same time, being much higher for these than
for the other parts. The consequence is, that in London the carcass
is there divided so as to obtain the greatest quantity of meat on the
most esteemed joints. In many places, however, where, from a greater
equality in the social condition and habits of the inhabitants, the
demand and prices for the different parts of the carcasses are more
equalized, there is not the same reason for the butcher to cut the best
joints so large.
The meat on those parts of the animal in which the muscles are least
called into action is most tender and succulent; as, for instance,
along the back, from the rump to the hinder part of the shoulder;
whilst the limbs, shoulder, and neck are the toughest, driest, and
least-esteemed.
The names of the several joints in the hind and fore quarters of a side
of beef, and the purposes for which they are used, are as follows:—
_Hind Quarter:_—
1. Sirloin,—the two sirloins, cut together in one joint, form a baron;
this, when roasted, is the famous national dish of Englishmen, at
entertainments, on occasion of rejoicing.